Cockatrice meatballs

Ground lean cockatrice meat hand rolled into bite-sized balls and fried in oil.

I remember the first time I made chicken meatballs – I wanted to serve guests some Swedish Köttbollar but forgot to purchase minced meat. Panicking, I checked what I had in stock and discovered some chicken breast. I minced them with my kitchen machine and used that instead. And, to tell you the truth, they were a blessing in disguise! My guests loved it, and I was left feeling that my panic was, as is so often the case, completely unfounded.

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You will need

500 grams (approx. 17 ½ ounces) of minced chicken meat

3 tablespoons of panko or breadcrumbs

Approx. 60 milliliters (approx. ¼ cup) of milk

1 small onion

3 tablespoons of butter

2 medium-sized eggs

1 teaspoon chopped dried sage

2 teaspoons chopped parsley

2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

1/8 liter (approx. ½ cup) dry white wine

1/8 liter (approx. ½ cup) chicken broth

1 tablespoon tomato paste

Salt and pepper, to taste

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Put the panko in a mixing bowl and pour just enough milk in it to soak them – less is more. Peel and chop the onion into small pieces. Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a small pan over medium heat and fry the onion until fragrant.

Add the onion, including what’s left of the heated butter, into the bowl with panko. Stir in the sage and parsley, as well as some salt and pepper. Add in the eggs. Mix in the minced chicken meat until you get a nice firm dough. If it feels a little too sticky, you may want to add some more panko. Roll into bite-sized balls and set aside.

Heat a large frying pan with the remaining butter over medium heat. Fry the meatballs in batches, taking the cooked ones out of the pan. If you want to keep them warm, you can lay them out on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and keep them in the oven at the lowest temperature possible.

Once all your meatballs are fried, add the flour to the fat residue in your pan. If your pan seems too dry, you may add another tablespoon of butter. Cook the flour a little until it clumps up to a ball, scraping down any bits of fried meat and spices off the pan, then swiftly mix in the wine. Keep on stirring to avoid clumps. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for approx. 10 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and stir in as much broth as needed to reach gravy consistency. Taste the gravy, and add salt and pepper if needed. Keep warm, occasionally stirring to prevent skin forming on the top. Alternatively, you can return the meatballs into the pan to keep them warm in the sauce.